Question for lovers of dirt roads and 4wd

[Arizona Native]

I was towing my Fleetwood E2 through the White Mtns in Arizona last Friday and managed to get two flat tires in the process.  Luckily the E2 wheels fit on a Jeep Cherokee.  As double flats are extremely rare I wondered to myself if towing a heavy trailer around on dirt roads might increase the chance of a flat as the tire has more pressure on it.   Taking this into account,  if I were to drive around on dirt roads in 4 high wouldn't that decrease this stress somewhat and reduce the chance of a flat?  Please chime in with your opinions.  Personally a little extra gas would be much less than a new tire in my opinion.

[tlhdoc]

I don't see how towing in high gear would reduce the pressure on your trailer tires.  They have the same weight on them towing in high or low gear.  Your speed (faster = more flats) hitting rocks and other stuff could cause more flat tires though.

[ptbrauch]

(Originally, I accidently set this up as a new thread when it was meant to be posted here)

Exactly as the last poster said, it won't matter whether you're in 2wd, 4 high, or 4 low, none of them have any effect on your trailer. To be honest, unless you're doing some hard-core 4-wheeling, off-road flats are pretty rare. Typically, you get a flat when off-roading because you've caught the side of the tire on something and pulled it off the bead. Its rare that you ever get a puncture flat and when that happens, its typically because something has punctured the sidewall.

All that being said, as someone who drives a Jeep Wrangler, there are very few places that require 4wd that I would take a camper. Flat tires on my camper would be the least of my worries. Of more concern would be the low ground clearance fo the camper, the extreme angles that the camper would be to the TV at times, and the extra weight of the camper having to be drug along.

However, if you're just on dirt or gravel roads, I would attribute the double flats to either already worn out tires, too much pressure in the tires, sabotage by someone putting nails on the road, or just a random occurence, highly unlikely to occur again. Do you know what caused the flats, or where on the tire they went flat at?

[AustinBoston]

All that being said, as someone who drives a Jeep Wrangler, there are very few places that require 4wd that I would take a camper. Flat tires on my camper would be the least of my worries. Of more concern would be the low ground clearance fo the camper, the extreme angles that the camper would be to the TV at times, and the extra weight of the camper having to be drug along.

The original poster reported that he is towing a Fleetwood E2, part of their Evolution series.  You obviously haven't seen it yet.  It just might be more off-road worthy than your Jeep Wrangler.

Austin

[tlhdoc]

The original poster reported that he is towing a Fleetwood E2, part of their Evolution series. You obviously haven't seen it yet. It just might be more off-road worthy than your Jeep Wrangler.
 
Austin

I wouldn't go that far.:yikes:

[AustinBoston]

I wouldn't go that far.:yikes:

Well I did hedge what I said;  It's possible, especially if he drives a badly rusted 1982 Jeep Wrangler with a leaky gas tank or something. :eyecrazy:

Austin

[Arizona Native]

I don't see how towing in high gear would reduce the pressure on your trailer tires.  They have the same weight on them towing in high or low gear.  Your speed (faster = more flats) hitting rocks and other stuff could cause more flat tires though.

Well,  the drive tire would have its pushing force divided by 2 if it was in 4wd wouldn't it?   I would think a reduction in slippage would decrease the likelyhood of flats.  Will have to see if it ever happens to me again to determine if it was just an unlucky day or not.  The flats were on the Tow Vehicle rear tires by the way.  I guess I didn't make that clear.  The fact the rear tires both went flat raised my flags of suspicion since in rear wheel drive those would be the tires slipping,  or applying more forward force.  I know on my bicycle my worst flats have been when I have foolishly braked while going over something sharp and I would think the same thing would apply to a car tire if you happened to have a tire pushing or slipping over something sharp.  Anyway,  will have to see if it happens again I guess.

 :confused:

[mountainrev]

I'm a bit dubious that you would lessen the chances of flat tires by driving in 4WD.  But if you're driving on washboard roads, putting it in 4 high will help improve the ride and handling.  

My Durango has full-time AWD and part-time 4WD, but I'm guessing your Jeep has either 2WD or 4WD only.  As long as you have some slippage, you're okay in 4 high.  But if you're not slipping at all, don't put it into 4WD.

[evilspock]

We travel the Rim Road area quite a bit and our TV is a Jeep Cherokee as well. The only thing we do is drop tire pressures to absorb some of the bumps and, in theory reduce the chances of a flat.

2WD or 4, I think makes no difference with regards to flats.

I tow on dirt roads in 4 Hi because, (again in theory) I think it reduces wear on the rear drive train as opposed to 2WD only.

My 2 cents....